


Jellyfish Waltz

by Lalikaa



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aquariums, Double Dating, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22176613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lalikaa/pseuds/Lalikaa
Summary: It had been sort of an accident, how this all happened. Sakunami had mentioned off-hand to Koganegawa and Goshiki when they were hanging out one summer afternoon about how much he was looking forward to the training camp Datekou was hosting in autumn. The camp was aimed to be for promising first and second-years. Koganegawa had asked why he was so excited, and Sakunami had told the two he was planning to ask Shibayama out.“We had a lot of chemistry in our match at the training camp in Tokyo in June, don’t you think?”“Uh, Kosuke-kun? Volleyball is more like gym class than science,” Koganegawa had said earnestly.
Relationships: Goshiki Tsutomu/Koganegawa Kanji, Sakunami Kousuke/Shibayama Yuuki
Comments: 14
Kudos: 63





	Jellyfish Waltz

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BokutosBabysitter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BokutosBabysitter/gifts).



> A fic I wrote for my good friend!! The Haikyuu!! fandom can always use more rarepair fics! I hope you all enjoy! :D

“This is gonna be such a hella cool date!” Koganegawa exclaimed about 4 million decibels louder than necessary. 

“Shhh,” Shibayama and Sakunami hushed him simultaneously.

The four of them had decided to study together after the final day of practice matches, and it had been a good way to show Shibayama around Sendai for a bit. 

“It’s definitely going to be _so_ cool,” Goshiki said equally as loud while he casually flipped his bangs.

He and Koganegawa began to do their overly-complicated high-five (that was constantly changing since Koganegawa kept forgetting the sequence, and Goshiki simply rolled with it by making up new sequences that Koganegawa proceeded to forget again, and so on).

“We’re gonna get-” Sakunami groaned.

“-kicked out,” Shibayama finished.

Sure enough, the librarian at the front desk was headed their way.

“She heard you guys from all the way up front, you’re so fucking loud,” Sakunami hissed, hastily shoving his books into his backpack.

\-----

It had been sort of an accident, how this all happened. Sakunami had mentioned off-hand to Koganegawa and Goshiki when they were hanging out one summer afternoon about how much he was looking forward to the training camp Datekou was hosting in autumn. The camp was aimed to be for promising first and second-years. Koganegawa had asked why he was so excited, and Sakunami had told the two he was planning to ask Shibayama out.

“We had a lot of chemistry in our match at the training camp in Tokyo in June, don’t you think?”

“Uh, Kosuke-kun? Volleyball is more like gym class than science,” Koganegawa had said earnestly.

Sakunami could do nothing but blink, and was relieved to hear Goshiki start by saying; “Koganegawa, don’t be dumb…”

Yet Goshiki chose to follow up with; “He means he’d like to take Chemistry with Shibayama, obviously.” 

Sakunami leaned his head so far back in a sigh that he hit his head on the booth they were sitting at. Yet he pulled it together enough to say, “You’re both stupid, it’s because I _like_ him!”

Sakunami leaned forward again to find Goshiki and Koganegawa both looking very confused.

“Well, of course you wouldn’t get it, you two already have each other,” Sakunami grumbled, hoping he wasn’t coming off as jealous.

“Hey, what do you mean?” Goshiki asked.

“Because- Well, because you guys are dating, so I guess you just don’t, you know, don’t-“

“We’re _dating?!”_ Koganegawa yelled, looking at Goshiki in genuine shock. “Well, why didn’t you say something about it, Goshiki-kun?”

“Well, it’s not like I knew!” Goshiki exclaimed, before turning to Sakunami. “Hey, wait, how long have we been dating?”

 _“Oh my god_.”

“I think it’s a good question!” Koganegawa said in Goshiki’s defense.

“What do you- I’m- I saw you guys like, holding hands!” Sakunami blurted.

“Oh shit, I didn’t know holding hands meant you’re dating!” Koganegawa exclaimed. “I didn’t even ask! Goshiki, will you go out with me?!”

“Only if you go out with me first!” Goshiki responded boldly.

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” Sakunami shouted, throwing his hands up in the air.

Naturally, they were very sternly shooed out of the McDonald’s.

\----- 

And now they were here. Having recently been scolded out of the local library (Sakunami sincerely hoped getting chased out of buildings wouldn’t become _too_ much of a habit), they walked aimlessly down the street.

“Really though, I am looking forward to the aquarium!” Shibayama started excitedly. Sakunami admired him for rolling along with Koganegawa and Goshiki being… like that, but Shibayama had assured him that Nekoma was much louder because A. They had Lev; B. Tora was their ace; C. They had Lev; D. Tora’s sister and Lev’s sister were apparently louder than the entirety of Shiratorizawa Academy’s cheer section and, of course; E. They had Lev. 

“The Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium is supposed to be one of the best in Japan!” Goshiki said, fist-pumping. Sakunami wasn’t sure if this was true or not, but no one seemed to be debating it, so he decided to ride the wave of general enthusiam in their group.

“Yeah! I’ve been there a couple times before, there’s a bunch of exhibits!”

“There’s a dolphin show, right?” Koganegawa asked. He turned to Goshiki and Shibayama explaining, “Kosuke-kun has been really pumped about this, he’s been telling me all ab-”

“YES, the exhibits!” Sakunami cut in, cheeks a little red. “They’re cool!”

They eventually opted to part ways. Nekoma’s team was staying in Datekou’s spare dorm rooms for the week (though Goshiki made sure to let everyone know that Shiratorizawa’s dorms were _much_ swankier), so Shibayama walked back with Sakunami and Koganegawa.

To Sakunami, tomorrow couldn’t arrive faster. 

\-----

They had agreed to meet at the train station closest ot Datekou the next day. It was Saturday, and the rest of Nekoma had headed back on the bus already. Luckily, Shibayama had an older cousin who lived in Sendai, and who he was staying with before he took the bullet train back to Tokyo on Sunday (this plan was of course made with a lot of begging on Shibayama’s part, but his parents finally folded). 

The ride wasn’t long, and soon they were in front of the absolutely massive building that was Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium. 

“Where do you guys want to go first?” Sakunami asked once they had all bought their tickets. 

“Maybe we can just follow the signs?” Shibayama suggested.

The first exhibit they passed was a giant tank that looked about 3 stories tall, and was filled with what seemed like thousands of fish (and probably was). The four boys stood absolutely captivated, though Sakunami couldn’t help but feel equally captivated by the sheer, sprakling joy on Shibayama’s face. He just looked so goddamn cute, and fuck, Sakunami had maybe a bigger crush than he’d initially though. The whole room was bathed in a silvery blue light, and it was this light that was reflected in Shibayama’s eyes when he turned to Sakunami and started spouting off facts about a type of fish he’d spotted. Unfortunately, Sakunami was so overwhelmed by how gorgeous Shibayama looked that he didn’t even remember the name of the fish he was talking about, much less any of the facts about it.

So instead Sakunami mumbled a “yeah” and “cool!” every so often, and god, if he could just stay here forever with Shibayama looking so happy, he absolutely would. They were bathed in varying shades of blue, from cerulean to a deeper navy, and Sakunami wondered why anyone ever associated blue with sadness when Shibayama, the literal equivalent of sunshine, looked so good in all of its hues. 

Meanwhile, Koganegawa and Goshiki did the thing where they started holding hands without noticing, and Goshiki, trying to impress his boyfriend, started rattling off everything he knew about sharks, despite the fact that there were no sharks to be seen in the tank.

The rest of the first floor was just as breath-taking, and Shibayama clearly enjoyed sharing what he knew about the various fish featured. Sakunami could literally hear his heart hit the ground, it had fallen so hard for Shibayama.

Which was why Sakunami was glad for the distraction when they reached the end of the first floor and Goshiki announced that it would be super cool if they could watch the dolphin show. It didn’t start for about another hour, but Sakunami pointed out there was still the entire second floor. 

“Hey, and because we have time, we should feed the penguins!” Sakunami said as they made their way upstairs.

“Yeah, definitely!” Shibayama agreed. 

“What if it one tries to bite me?” Koganegawa asked, slightly concerned, as they made their way over to the penguin feeding zone. 

“I’ll protect you!” Goshiki said, and then had the absolute gall to wink, of all things.

Shibayama laughed, Sakunami rolled his eyes, and Koganegawa crushed Goshiki in a hug, picking him up slightly as he did so, their 11 centimeter height difference now painfully obvious. 

“What are you gonna do, spike a volleyball at it?” Sakunami said.

“Well, obviously he wouldn’t,” Koganegawa said, releasing Goshiki from what could’ve been recorded as the most unnecessarily dramatic hug in existence. “We didn’t bring a volleyball with us!”

This only made Shibayama laugh harder, and Goshiki put in, “Why would I spike a volleyball at a penguin when I could just spike the actual penguin?”

“Goshiki-kun, they’re going to think you’re being serious and you’re gonna get us kicked out,” Sakunami said over Shibayama’s wheezes.

“But I _am_ being ser-”

“Okay, here’s the feeding section!” Sakunami said, a little too loudly. If these two idiots got him kicked out of a third establishment in the span of a few months, he would never forgive them, no matter how cute and dorky of a couple they were. 

“Aw, look, Kosuke-kun, it’s you!” Koganegawa said, pointing at a penguin that was currently pecking another penguin. “Because you’re so pushy!”

Goshiki and Shibayama doubled over laughing, and Sakunami felt his lips quirk a little in a smile. So he pointed to a penguin that was currently squawking at them, likely because it was hungry, and said, “And that one’s you, since it’s so fucking loud.”

“Nah, I think that one is Kanji-kun,” Goshiki said, he and Shibayama now joining the other two at the low glass wall separating the people from the penguins. Sakunami followed his gaze to where Goshiki was pointing, and sure enough, there was a penguin who appeared to be aggressively hugging another penguin.

“Then that penguin,” Shibayama said, referring to the penguin being hugged, “is you!”

“It’s not loud enough to be Goshiki,” Sakunami said.

“Hey, me and Kanji have other traits then just being loud, you know!” 

“Do you…?” Sakunami deadpanned.

As if on cue, the penguin-hugging duo both started squawking, and now it was Sakunami’s turn to start laughing.

“Ok, so which penguin am I?” Shibayama asked.

“Oooh, you’re that chill one sitting on top of the rock!” Kogangegawa said.

Sakunami stopped laughing to verify if Koganegawa had identified the correct penguin version of Shibayama, which suddenly was of the utmost importance to him.

“I think so, too!” Goshiki said, and Sakunami couldn't help but agree.

The four boys then went to purchase their fish, and enjoyed tossing the fish to the penguins, which swarmed around their section of the wall. They all made a point to try and feed their penguin-selves, too. Thankfully, the penguins did not try and jump up to bite anyone, and so they were safe from Goshiki potentially spiking them. 

The rest of the second floor was as cool as the first, though the jellyfish exhibit was exceptionally phenomenal. 

“Kanji-kun, are you- are you crying over jellyfish?” Sakunami asked, bewildered, after spending less than a minute in the jellyfish exhibit. 

“No,” Koganegawa sniffled, rubbing his entire forearm over his face. “It’s just… it’s just that they don’t have eyes! How can they _see_?”

Shibayama, bless him, reached up to pat Koganegawa’s shoulder. “Well, they ‘see’ in their own way, with the nerves in their tentacles. They can pretty much only detect light and dark, though.”

“You’re so smart,” Sakunami praised.

“I just really like sea life,” Shibayama grinned. 

“Wait, they don’t have ears either,” Goshiki observed. “So that means they can’t really hear either, right?”

“But Tsutomu-san, there’s not really sound underwater anyway…?” Koganegawa put in.

The other three all turned to stare at Koganegawa, who just smiled back.

“Who’s gonna tell him?” Sakunami asked. 

No one said anything.

“WOAH, this one is super long!” Koganegawa said, completely ignoring the inner turmoil he’d just left his companions suffering in, turning to look at a very thin jellyfish with a soft white glow. 

The jellyfish floated peacefully around their tanks. Sakunami couldn’t help but admire how it looked like they were almost dancing with each other. A sort of disorganized waltz, with no real leader or sense of direction, but mesmerizing at the same time. He briefly wondered if jellyfish ever felt a particular sense of fondness towards each other. 

He glanced over at his three companions; Shibayama was currently explaining the average lifespan of various types of jellyfish to Koganegawa and Goshiki. 

“You really know your stuff, huh?” Goshiki was saying appreciatively. 

“You know, it’s funny, people usually tell me I’m lame or need to focus on memorizing more useful things,” Shibayama grinned sheepishly. 

“Knowing cool ocean facts is way cool, though!” Shibayama walked over to the side of the tank the other three were standing at. “Just in it’s own way!”

“Thanks, Sakunami-kun,” Shibayama said, giving a shy smile that could’ve easily crumbled Sakunami into dust on the spot.

To avoid becoming a sad little pile of debris, Sakunami took the initiative to remind everyone that the show was starting soon.

Goshiki insisted they sit in the front row for the sea lion and dolphin show, even though they were sure to get soaked.

“It’s more fun that way!” Koganegawa had said in defense of his boyfriend.

“We can always hide behind these giants to avoid getting splashed,” Sakunami said conspiratorially to Shibayama, who laughed and responded; “Ah, I don’t mind a little water.”

It was not just “a little” water.

The sea lions were great, doing a little dance number and various tricks. It was the dolphins that completely soaked the crowd with their incredible flips. Sakunami was pretty sure that their group was the loudest, yelling in delight every time they were splashed. 

At one point, Koganegawa, in a misguided attempt to shield the other three, stood up and tripped, falling on top of Goshiki, which of course led to the four of them laughing even more. Sakunami was only then slightly concerned they would be kicked out, but luckily everyone seemed to be too entranced by the dolphins to notice or care about four dumb highscool boys losing their shit in the front row.

\-----

“Hey so today- it was really fun,” Shibayama said, coming to sit near Sakunami on the bench outside the gift shop. Shibayama had bought a postcard set, while Sakunami had opted to save his money so he could cover dinner afterwards.

Sakunami shifted slightly as Shibayama leaned a little closer to talk to him- was he doing it on purpose? On accident? Should Sakunami lean in too, or lean away? Should he take lead of the conversation?

“Why’d you invite me, exactly?” Shibayama asked, leaning just a couple centimeters closer. Sakunami leaned away instinctively, but immediately regretted it, so he opted to sway his torso a bit forwards. He felt like a buoy, bobbing back and forth.

“Because, I figured you’d like it?” Sakunami answered lamely. 

When Shibayama gave him a look that clearly stated, “ _C’mon, man_ ,” Sakunami took a deep breath in and continued;

“When we were at the last training camp, you’d been talking about how you’d just been to the Sumida Aquarium, and you were so excited about it, so I thought you know, you’d like-”

“You invited me out today just because you thought I would like Sendai’s Aquarium?”

“I mean, no, well, yeah.”

“No other reason, then?” Shibayama asked, and Sakunami could see his ears turning pink.

They were like two jellyfish waltzing, twisting around the words and hidden and not-so-hidden meanings of them. But unlike a jellyfish, Sakunami could see and hear; see Shibayama’s soft brown eyes, could hear his own heartbeat 

“I mean, there is a reason, I just- I just usually know what to say,” Sakunami said awkwardly. 

_Why was he freezing up all of a sudden?_

“Well, then, Sakunami-kun, thanks for inviting me,” Shibayama’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I didn’t invite you just because your eyes are pretty! I mean- shit. I mean, I didn’t invite you just because I thought you’d like it!” 

_What the hell was wrong with him?_

To Sakunami’s relief, Shibayama burst out laughing. “I think your eyes are pretty, too,” he said through his wheezes. “I just didn’t think you were that shallow, Sakunami-kun.”

It was Sakunami’s turn to blush, this time. “It’s also because of your stupidly bright personality!”

This only made Shibayama laugh harder. Sakunami was really grateful that the din around them was too loud for anyone to actually hear the reason why Shibayama was laughing.

“Can me and my stupidly bright personality ask you out on a date for tomorrow morning?”

It was unfortunate that Sakunami’s throat chose to go numb in this moment, as with every passing second Shibayama started looking more and more nervous.

“Or, I guess, maybe I’m just stupid after a-”

“Yes!”

“Yes, you think I’m stupid?”

“Yeah, no, I’m definitely- let’s go out tomorrow, too!” Sakunami sputtered, now bright red. He didn’t think he’d ever lost his composure this badly before (excluding on a volleyball court, of course). 

“Great, we’ll come too!” Goshiki said loudly, he and Koganegawa having just pushed their way through the crowd thanks to Koganegawa’s giant brand new shark plushie. 

The crowd was so loud that Sakunami couldn’t even argue.

\-----

On the walk back to the station, with Koganegawa thumping Goshiki with the shark plushie before Goshiki finally stole it, both laughing like idiots, Shibayama lightly bumped into Sakunami’s side. To be honest, he kind of liked this bolder side of Shibayama. 

“Seriously, thank you for inviting me out today.”

“ _Asking_ you out today,” Sakunami corrected.

Shibayama grinned. “So where do you wanna go tomorrow?”

“We should get breakfast!” Koganegawa chimed in.

“You can’t just invite yourself on _our_ date!” Sakunami said, indignant.

“I really like pancakes!” Goshiki put in.

“That sounds good,” Shibayama said mildly. 

Sakunami brashly thought, “ _Now or never!”_ as he grasped Shibayama’s hand. After a few seconds, when his intention became clear, Shibayama held on a little tighter, swinging his arm ever so slightly, their hands still holding, yet now swaying gently back and forth. 

“I’m okay with whatever you want,” Sakunami said, smiling. 

“Same,” Shibayama grinned back. “But I guess we can figure it out tomorrow. There’s no real rush.”

With their hands still interlocked, Sakunami was sure he could feel Shibayama’s heartbeat in time with his own.

They were by no means jellyfish, yet maybe, just maybe, they could both float together.


End file.
